I often wonder what exactly what was going on in the Christian community from which the Gospel of John, the letters of John, and the book of Revelation sprung
—all these descriptions of the Christian faith are so circular
-The Gospel of John has the constant refrain of I AM, and descriptions of Abiding and Loving.
-The Letters of John fixate on one or two words and coming back to them continually, to the point that they grow familiar and worn from use.
-The Book of Revelation does much the same, but using different bizarre images and animals to drive home several central points.
This circular way of describing the Gospel draws us into mystery,
not explaining so much as experiencing the Love of God found in Christ.
And today, I want us to sit a bit with the Gospel of John’s circular,
repetitive,
reflection on Love,
Abiding,
and Command.
Let us pray
“If you all keep my commandments, you all will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.”
We are commanded with a new commandment
—love one another…
We are commanded to bear fruit…
We are to bear the fruit of love…
and the fruit of love…
is love!
We love because we are friends of Christ,
We are friends of Christ because God loves his Son
God loves his Son because he came into the world with love to show forth the love of His Father to us
and through us!...
I told you this was going to be circular!
Yet, imagine such a command…
command the plant to bear fruit!
As a frustrated gardener, let me say, it doesn’t work that way,
the plant bears fruit because that’s what the plant does…
Or imagine the command…
command the lover to love the beloved…
command a couple, madly in love, to love each other… they’re already doing it… it’s what lover and beloved do!
So too this command… it points to what already is—you’ve already been chosen by God…
God has already befriended you!
Isn’t there great joy in that friendship!
Great joy that God is gracious, God has already acted on your behalf!
“Abide in my love”
--I love the word abide “Abide with me, fast falls the evening tide. The darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide. When other helpers fail and comforts flee, help of the helpless, oh, abide with me…”
—it just rolls off the tongue…
I love the word abide almost as much as John’s Gospel does…
but, it’s become sort of an old word
—like a favorite pillow so well loved that the stuffing is spent.
Inside this word, Abide, is the Greek word “Meno” which I’ve seen translated 18 different ways, everything from “Sustained conscious communion” to “Invest” to “stay” to “cuddle.”
All trying to get at a sense of mutuality,
a sense of physical closeness,
and a sense of continuation…
I still think Abide works best…
but let’s hear what’s being said.
There is a mutuality in the love between Father and Son and Son and his chosen
—this is not an unrequited love,
not a one sided friendship
—there is a mutuality to it, we grow close.
There is a physical closeness to this love
—Jesus’ love draws him so close to us that he becomes human in the flesh…
and Father and Son love each other in such a way that Jesus lays against the bosom of the Father
(think of holding a newborn! Wow!)…
Jesus abides with us and with the Father!
There is a continuation, this kind of love is a spark that catches and burns on always!
This isn’t bedding the cattle down for the night, this is a barn for always…
The Father abides in the Son,
the Son in his friends,
his friends abide in the mutual love between Father and Son, which is the Holy Spirit!
They are vine grower and vine and branch bearing fruit because it abides in the vine and vine grower.
The fruit too is the love of the vine grower
—his command completed because it was completed in him
—the entire vineyard is joy!
“As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you all, abide in my love.”
This love is the love we see knelt down close on Maundy Thursday
—foot washing…
the kind of love that is physical,
intimate,
and humble.
The kind of love that is sacrificial and incarnational too
—there is a reason so many Christians memorize John 3:16
—it describes the kind of love God has for the world through Jesus Christ:
Jesus dwell, abided, in this world, not to condemn us, but to love us,
to save us,
to bring us everlasting life!
This love is the kind of love that makes the invisible God visible for us!
God loves the world by dwelling in it physically, drawing the world to him in friendship and joy,
fulfilling the command of love in us.
Love,
Abiding,
Command.
A+A
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